World Vision Firms Up Evangelical Base After Gay-Marriage Furor

Evangelical aid charity World Vision is working to shore up its religious base, which revolted earlier this year when the organization briefly changed its hiring policies to allow employees who are in same-sex marriages, the Religion News Service writes.

That March 24 move by World Vision’s board was reversed two days later after evangelical leaders denounced the charity and thousands of donors threatened to end their support. In the three months since, the $1-billion humanitarian agency has replenished its board with major figures from the evangelical community and is asking directors to formally affirm that marriage is between a man and a woman.

In the wake of the controversy, the charity lost about 10,000 of its child sponsors, each of whom pays $35 a month to support an individual youth overseas. World Vision spokesman Steve Panton said the charity has seen overall donations grow compared with the same period last year but at a slower rate than it projected.

Read a Chronicle of Philanthropy opinion piece on World Vision’s gay-marriage reversal.